hello...im from the TX area.....i have not seen a Shakeys Pizza in a VERY long time..we had one in San Angelo TX....and thats the last i have seen them here in TX......recently a friend of mine went to California...and said they are still around....i would love to see some in TX again....

I know there was one in Escanaba on US-2 (Lincoln Rd.) I think I was three or four when I went there, though I don't remember it. It's now an Advance Auto Parts. There was also one in Iron Mountain.

I *think* I may have found one in Lansing, here's a birds eye view of it:http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=r39fqr7ynjwk&style=b&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=16596942&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

The sign shape looks very much like a former Shakey's sign, but a local chain called Flap Jack had a *very* similar sign shape, and I do know that this was a Flap Jack at one point. I found a similar ex-Flap Jack in Manistee that sorta looks like this too. Does anyone know of any other former Shakey's in Michigan?

WTMJ-TV and JSOnline.comI found this news article, the last line has me convinced it was not a lack of patrons but something else that led to the closing. I know the former Shakeys in Springfield IL said they changed their name but stayed basicly the same since the franchise awarders wanted them to do things they did not think would keep the business viable.

I might have gone up there if gas was not so high. I had planned to go yesterday since had a function to attend in Milwaukee and had convinced a friend to come along a few months back with par tof the enticement being we would go to Shakeys when we were done.

updated 9:42 a.m. ET July 1, 2008

It’s the end of an era for a popular pizza place. Monday was the last day for Shakey’s Pizza on National Avenue in West Allis.

WEST ALLIS – It’s the end of an era for a popular pizza place. Monday was the last day for Shakey’s Pizza on National Avenue in West Allis. The restaurant is closing after 36 years serving up food and family fun. Shakey’s is a true slice of history. “Everyone seems to have a story to related to us as far as their experience here, their kid’s experiences here, the parties that they’ve had,” Shakey’s Owner Tom Miller said. Plenty of people showed up for the last day Monday. Miller said a change in the company led to the restaurant closing.

Wow, was there ever a lot of local media coverage of the closing of a Shakey's restaurant! This coverage answers a few questions that adm22 brought up. We now know from recent news reports that the owner of the Shakey's in West Allis also owns the pizza crust company at the address supplied last summer by adm22:http://www.bakersquality.com/comp.htmSo, he is pursuing useful business interests. I was being pessimistic in a previous post. There is an video interview with the owner on one of the links. In it, he discusses in vague terms his reasons for not renewing his franchise. Draw your own conclusions from the interview. To me, he either thought it was a bad business decision to upgrade to the new Shakey's concept or he simply wanted to cut back on his workload a bit. Note that the premises were not taken over (at least not yet) by a new person who bought a Shakey's franchise.

Quite a few links here:http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=768571http://www.westallisnow.com/story/index.aspx?id=765452http://www.westallisnow.com/story/index.aspx?id=765651http://www.westallisnow.com/story/index.aspx?id=766463http://www.westallisnow.com/story/index.aspx?id=767922http://www.westallisnow.com/story/index.aspx?id=768445http://www.westallisnow.com/includes/global_includes/forums/forum%20wa%20shakey's.asphttp://www.flickr.com/photos/purpleslog/2639347068/http://www.flickr.com/photos/purpleslog/2639348200/http://www.flickr.com/photos/purpleslog/2638520283/http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfasules/2632754008/http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfasules/2631933715/http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfasules/2632761338/http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/22755544.htmlhttp://blogs.westallisnow.com/sponsors_name_here/archive/2008/06/25/we-ll-miss-you-shakey-s.aspxhttp://www.metromilwaukeetoday.com/main/2008/06/index.html

They only time i have ever had Shakey's was in Kyoto, Japan in 2001. It was such a great deal with the all you can eat deal. Its the best pizza in Japan, but that isnt saying much. It was still there when i went back in 2006.

Just found this thread, and signed up just to post my experience at the Shakey's in Four Corners Washington this weekend.

Growing up in the 80's we used to have 2 Shakey's in the Puyallup area. I used to love go there as a kid, the buildings themselves were just neat inside. You could walk up to the glass and see them make the pizza. I think I vaguely remember the silent movies playing now, that I've seen it mentioned in this thread too.

But both of those locations closed in the late 80's, and I haven't been to a Shakey's until this last weekend.

When I heard there were actually 2 left in the state I was excited about going.So this weekend we were in the Four Corners area so we decided to go. I was so let down when we found it, it was actually part of a strip mall, so there was nothing from what I remember these places being as a kid.

As we walk in the very first thing I noticed was all the flies that were flying around. I've actually never been in a resteraunt before that had so many flies in the air. :(

Next and I thought this was strange, once inside there was nothing anywhere that let you knew that you were inside a Shakey's. No signs nothing! Even the Take Out pizza boxes were blank??

Now to the pizza, as a kid I remember the pizza being really good and the sauce having sort of a spice to it. This is not what I found yesterday, the pizza was about the quality of a frozen pizza. The sauce had very distinct tomato taste to it, and no spice at all. The pizza overall was really bad.

I was happy to see that the MoJo potatoes I loved as a kid were still there! These were like I remembered them, so at least something good came out of the trip.

I really wish this franchise would see that what made it great, is gone and that they need to go back to it. :(

Your story has been repeated by many other Shakey's fans, on this board as well as many other boards concerned with pizza and food in general.

When people post a story such as this, typically what happens is that a few months or a year later we receive confirmation the place closed permanently or became a no-name restaurant.

The new owners of Shakey's. the Jacmar Companies, have not been renewing franchises of subpar restaurants when the existing contracts expire.

If the sauce has no "kick" to it and the pizza boxes are not imprinted with Shakey's trade dress, either the restaurant is no longer buying supplies from the franchisor, or Jacmar is no longer servicing outlying franchises. I can't tell what current conditions are.

Jacmar seems to be interested in reviving the chain in California. Except for one franchisee in Alabama, no one else in the entire country has taken out a new franchise outside of California.

Some of the restaurants in California are still excellent. The ones actually owned and operated by Jacmar I have found reliable, though there are a few independent franchisees who still stubbornly adhere to the way things were done in the old days and are excellent. The Shakey's franchisee in Redlands, CA comes immediately to mind.

This thread has chronicled the closing of many Shakey's outside of California since its start. I have also found a site with a picture of the only remaining Shakey's in the state of Georgia:http://www.edricfloyd.com/oldschoolretail-shakeyspizza.html(Top photo)

Just found this thread, and signed up just to post my experience at the Shakey's in Four Corners Washington this weekend.

Growing up in the 80's we used to have 2 Shakey's in the Puyallup area. I used to love go there as a kid, the buildings themselves were just neat inside. You could walk up to the glass and see them make the pizza. I think I vaguely remember the silent movies playing now, that I've seen it mentioned in this thread too.

But both of those locations closed in the late 80's, and I haven't been to a Shakey's until this last weekend.

When I heard there were actually 2 left in the state I was excited about going.So this weekend we were in the Four Corners area so we decided to go. I was so let down when we found it, it was actually part of a strip mall, so there was nothing from what I remember these places being as a kid.

As we walk in the very first thing I noticed was all the flies that were flying around. I've actually never been in a resteraunt before that had so many flies in the air. :(

Next and I thought this was strange, once inside there was nothing anywhere that let you knew that you were inside a Shakey's. No signs nothing! Even the Take Out pizza boxes were blank??

Now to the pizza, as a kid I remember the pizza being really good and the sauce having sort of a spice to it. This is not what I found yesterday, the pizza was about the quality of a frozen pizza. The sauce had very distinct tomato taste to it, and no spice at all. The pizza overall was really bad.

I was happy to see that the MoJo potatoes I loved as a kid were still there! These were like I remembered them, so at least something good came out of the trip.

I really wish this franchise would see that what made it great, is gone and that they need to go back to it. :(

agreed. 4-corners shakeys was just like the original up to about 5 years ago... mojo potato is just about impossible to screw up, but give those idiots some time................... that store is now run by an "investor", and investors only care about profits. quality means nothing to these morons......

Last weekend I drove past the now-closed Shakey's in Janesville WI. The sign was in tatters, some of the windows were boarded up, and there was a dumpster partly full of what looked like construction debris. No idea if the building's being renovated into another restaurant or a different business, or if it's being stripped prior to demolition.

Just found this thread, and signed up just to post my experience at the Shakey's in Four Corners Washington this weekend.

Growing up in the 80's we used to have 2 Shakey's in the Puyallup area. I used to love go there as a kid, the buildings themselves were just neat inside. You could walk up to the glass and see them make the pizza. I think I vaguely remember the silent movies playing now, that I've seen it mentioned in this thread too.

But both of those locations closed in the late 80's, and I haven't been to a Shakey's until this last weekend.

When I heard there were actually 2 left in the state I was excited about going. So this weekend we were in the Four Corners area so we decided to go. I was so let down when we found it, it was actually part of a strip mall, so there was nothing from what I remember these places being as a kid.

As we walk in the very first thing I noticed was all the flies that were flying around. I've actually never been in a resteraunt before that had so many flies in the air. :(

Next and I thought this was strange, once inside there was nothing anywhere that let you knew that you were inside a Shakey's. No signs nothing! Even the Take Out pizza boxes were blank??

Now to the pizza, as a kid I remember the pizza being really good and the sauce having sort of a spice to it. This is not what I found yesterday, the pizza was about the quality of a frozen pizza. The sauce had very distinct tomato taste to it, and no spice at all. The pizza overall was really bad.

I was happy to see that the MoJo potatoes I loved as a kid were still there! These were like I remembered them, so at least something good came out of the trip.

I really wish this franchise would see that what made it great, is gone and that they need to go back to it. :(

agreed. 4-corners shakeys was just like the original up to about 5 years ago... mojo potato is just about impossible to screw up, but give those idiots some time................... that store is now run by an "investor", and investors only care about profits. quality means nothing to these morons......

Is the other Shakey's in WA any better? I was really hoping to have the Pizza I remember as a kid.

I not only knew the original owner, he retained portion of the ownership till the late 80's and later.

The original owner was 100% combined owner - Doug Jones who with builder Ramon King were primary owners for years.. Till the late 70's... when Tom Winslow & wife Gay Winslow became minority owners.

The chain was big for its time and very successfull till the mid 80's. By then many competitive pizza places sprung up and Shotgun sams was still in old format and could not really compete even with better pizza.

I should know I worked there from 1973 to 1979 and again from 1981 to 1985.

Tom later tried to take the success and retranslate the business into fancier eating but failed per doing wrong location.

THe sheridan pizza place was the wrong side of town to have a fancy restaurant. If he had done the 51st street location it would have succeeded. The mistake here was Tom & Wife nearly made the chain go under per this effort.

If they had done only 51st and grew it...they would now have two chains.

The effort though successfull was eventually sold because Ramon Kings decendents who still owned most of the business land in the area, raised the rent so hight that most either left or fought back...

The failure had nothting to do with change in ownership as the original owner was still primary owner when the pizza there started to slide into oblivion due to competition. The pizza here along with Mazzio's is litterally the only pizza I like. I cannot stand greasy pizza and thats what most of the other choices are like.

Crystals & Mypie (iN Tulsa) were the only other choices that were worth it.

The best thing about Shotgun Sams was the pizza/spagetti/beer, and music.

I did a little bit of everything while there and left soley due to graduation from college (with 1st degree).

Change of ownership was not the case till Tom&Gay shutdown the biz in total. Doug Jones did reduce his interest, but didnt eliminate it till the mid 80's.

The logo of shotgun sams was also somewhat based on him, and not on any cartoon or college logo (as many have stated)... I asked him personally and he proved it then.

If its otherwise known differently, it contradicts what the business creator proved.

Worked at Calumet City, IL Shakeys in 1974-75. Dated the owners daughter so it was easy getting hired. :) The Fralichs' were a great family and will always be in my heart. They opened up a few more stores later( Highland & Merriville IN, and Orland Park,IL) Had some of the best times at work with the old crew--Brad, Carl, Fark, Sabin and others. Bunch-o-Lunch in the afternoon was busy. My senior year I was done with class at 11.30, so I went in to prepare the chicken, spuds and pizza dough. I cant tell you how many of the spuds I ate while I cooked them for lunch time. They were so good. Come nighttime the place was packed. And yes, they had the Banjo player who got that place going. The little kids loved standing in the windows all night, watching us prepare the food.

The one in San Antonio was on Austin Hwy, and now it's some kind of bar. We used to have Godfather's Pizza here too, but I think they also pulled out as did Pizza Inn. The old Pizza Inn/Godfather's Pizza is now a Chester's Hamburgers, a local San Antonio burger chain.They do have good burgers and fries.

After the Delaware locations closed, the Shakey's on York Rd in Hunt Valley/Cockeysville was the closest to New York City. The franchisees were very accomodating; they would half bake the thin crust pizzas for me so they would have a better crust when I reheated them in New York.

Someone put up a Facebook page about the Cockeysville location:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=120352730522&ref=share With 584 members, a lot of people must have fond memories of the place. I happened to like their thin crust pizza, and the ambience of the Cockeysville location had me going back many times. The building now houses a Chinese Buffet.

My parents used to take me and my 2 siblings to Shakey's every other beginning around 1960 till we all left for college in the late 60s. We would go to a Shakey's on Foothill BL on the east side of Pasadena, they had a traditional jazz group playing on the weekends with a player piano play trad jazz during the week with all sorts of puinball machines too. That was our forst experience with thin crust pizza

Now, whenever my wife and I spend a weekend at our daughter and grand children's home in Riverside we eat at Shakey's there. We hope to soon visit the new state-of-the-art Shakey's that opened in Rancho Cucamonga about half way between Riverside and Pasadena

Well, isn't this interesting. I revisit the this thread some 6 (SIX) years after last posting. Not to mention apparently some 7 years since someone named "S H A K E Y N K I S S" has posted. Amazingly, this person was assuring us that Shakey's was modernizing, and expanding. I read lots of reports of additional restaurants that have closed, but none about new operations in any state but California.

Talk about the CEO's 5 year plan, that would have expired LAST year, and still nothing new. A few platitudes a few vague promises and NOTHING. . . WHAT IS GOING ON SHAKEY'S? Are you going to get back into the game while there are still some people who carry brand recognition for Shakey's BEFORE they die?

Yeah, I am more than a little annoyed. I used to love your pizza. Then the corporation did the musical chairs game with would be owners. . and you lost market share. . . changed owners again and lost more market share. Seems I read that there were once some 360+ stores. Now you have how many?

Given how long this thread has gone on, I don't believe Jacmar has any interest or ability to expand the corporation. Are you even offering new franchises? Doing ANY recruiting? Do you follow any of the postings here or at a myriad of other sites all giving the same story? People loved Shakey's Pizza. Their memories are fading away quicker than your chance to re-capitalize on the former brand recognition. Papa Johns is a decent pizza, as is Mazzios, and Pizza Hut. . More people know these brands than Shakeys.

IF you have no intention of doing anything with Shakey's, sell the brand, the trademark and everything else to someone who IS interested and WILL do something other than give platitudes about the supposed future.

At the moment, I consider Shakey's a DEAD BRAND, and it IS NOT EVER COMING BACK. . . .

Can you believe it is almost 9 years since I first posted on this thread about Shakey's? I have been following them continuously since that time. I'd like to comment on some of Wesley's points and also post some recent findings.

It turns out that shakeynkiss worked for BIG Imagination Group, a LOSA PR firm, doing very early social media work for Shakey's:http://www.prweekus.com/kniss-joins-clean-agency/article/133545/ Today, there is a very active social media page on Facebook, shakeyspizzaparlorusa, that is a real riot. There are a lot of companies now running Facebook pages with non-stop hype. What is funny is that with most inane posts by Shakey's flacks, there are snarky comments from people all around the country complaining their restaurant shut down and are asking for a return.

Shakey's website indicates they are currently offering franchises. I think about 12 new locations opened after Jacmar bought the chain. There are 3 in Mexico, 1 in Homestead, Florida, 1 in Waipahu, Hawaii, 1 in Auburn, Alabama, 2 in Pasco and Spokane, Washington, 4 former Shakey's in SoCal that Jacmar bought and rebranded back to Shakey's, and possibly a few others in California that I can't identify right now. One opened near Salt Lake City, UT but closed within a year; the real reason has not been made public yet.

A friend who moved to Los Angeles tells me the restaurants in the Los Angeles area pack'em in at lunch, and you have to fight for a table when they serve the buffet. A lot of those restaurants now have a heavy Latino clientele.

The CEO who wrote the five year plan mentioned by Wesley left after only two years. He was succeeded by Joe Remsa, who posted his accomplishments on his LinkedIn page. Joe left and there is now a new man, Nick Mayer, in charge.

Unlike Wesley, I don't consider Shakey's a dead brand. They appear to be doing very well as a regional chain, just as the regional Frank Pepe chain in the Connecticut/New York area is doing well. However, I now agree with Wesley that Shakey's is not coming back in any big way. I don't think even selling the chain to another owner would bring back the chain in a big way. Jacmar has been running Shakey's for almost a decade now. They took care of the necessary legal formalities to begin offering franchises again. The franchises just don't sell.

I don't know if Jacmar has the necessary financial muscle to open stores themselves around the country. They are concentrating on franchises. But they may believe the same way as me that absentee ownership will not result in a successful location. When I think back about the "good" Shakey's I used to patronize, I could always identify some person there in charge who made sure that things got done right.

Perhaps one of our restaurant professionals could give their opinion about why Shakey's franchises just are not selling. My gut instinct is that there are better, more lucrative franchise opportunities out there for the same dollar investment.

David, Thanks for taking the time to reply and inform us what the story was with "shakeynkiss." Certainly a most helpful tidbit. I would certainly venture to offer that if a company is going to hire someone to promote them on social media, they need to be keenly aware of what that person or organization is putting out there. In the previously mentioned case, and specifically this thread, the person was posting all sorts of information that the company probably had no knowledge of, and more importantly, no ability to follow through on.

The person talked glowingly of a man with a "Five year plan," who left after only two years. Subsequently succeeded by another person, who only stayed a short time. This should tell us something about the corporate culture of Jacmar and Shakey's. No one is running the company with anything similar to a passion. There is no one really driven to make the company the BEST it could be, to beat the other guys. . . and there are MANY other guys these days with good product.

I wish I could agree with Dave_NYC that Shakey's was not a dead brand. From my pearch here in the Midwest (Oklahoma) I see no new Shakey's, no plans for one and no hope on the horizon. Got some units in Southern California. . . Great for California, but not for anyone else. The message seems to be one of interest only in California. . .

Is there any ACTIVE recruiting going on for NEW franchises? I doubt it. If less than 5 have been approved and opened in as many years, something is wrong.

I totally agree that one of the restaurant professionals could look into the matter and offer some serious opinion about the viability of such a business and what is going on at Jacmar.

I guess, I would really like SOMEONE, anyone to prove me wrong on this. I would love to see someone open a franchise in OKC or Tulsa. We have enough Domino's, Papa John's, Mazzio's and even Pizza huts. . but no Shakeys. . .

If Jacmar, and Nick Meyer are listening, perhaps you could make some effort to respond or prove me wrong.

"According to documents obtained by PizzaMarketplace, Shakey's applied for renewal of its UFOC to the State of California's Department of Corporations on Sept. 13, 2002. The state declined to renew it, however, because of concerns over Shakey's financial condition and its potential inability to honor future franchise agreements."

And then,

Article about Tim Pulido (wetkiss much vaulted "5 year plan man" left after two years.

"Pulido, who left Shakey's at the beginning of December to take over as president of Mimi's Café, was the 14thperson to hold the top Shakey's position in the past 17 years. However, the company is still on a path to revitalization, said Joe Remsa, who was appointed Shakey's interim president and CEO following Pulido's departure."

and

"At its peak, Shakey's operated close to 400 restaurants around the United States. Numerous ownership changes took its toll on the brand, however, and by the time the 19-unit franchisee Jacmar Cos. bought the company in 2004 there were fewer than 70 Shakey's in operation, mainly in California." (Very telling)

If you want to read more, go here:

Reading these stories is like reading about the gang that couldn't shoot straight. Sadly, it looks like they have learned NOTHING over the ensuing years. I don't think Pizza hut could have done as good of a job destroying the company as these guys have done. . .

Not too impressive with the admin blocking legitimate links. Well, if you want to read the articles go to pizzamarketplace dot com and enter shakey's into the search bar. Read a few of the stories and you will know why shakey's is about outta there. . .

From Maryland and we use to have Shakeys here. Well went to Miami 2 weeks ago and went down to Homestead to check out the Shakeys. Boy did it bring back memories. The pizza the look the feel of the place just as I remembered it. Pizza was great and part of the buffet. They even have an updated arcade woth games. One thing that may help is the had tons of flat screen tv's with sports so that should help bring in people. I was there around noon and the place was atleast half full.